County Opens Crisis Stabilization Unit
Author: Frank Warren
Date: 3/29/2018 1:59 PM
The County Behavioral Health Department held a grand opening celebration of its Crisis Stabilization Unit.
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Today the County celebrated a new resource for community members suffering from severe mental health issues. The County Behavioral Health Department held a grand opening celebration of its Crisis Stabilization Unit today. It will officially open to the public on April 1.
The new unit will allow medical professionals to stabilize up to four community members at a time who are experiencing a serious mental health issue. The unit is in San Luis Obispo at the County Health Agency campus on Johnson Avenue.
“This is part of the County’s efforts to improve public mental health services,” said County Behavioral Health Director Anne Robin. “There are few options for people in San Luis Obispo County who suffer from troubling signs of a mental health crisis. This is an important step to the recovery process to help get them back into the community quickly.”
Sierra Mental Wellness Group (SMWG), based in Roseville, CA, will operate the facility, which is expected to serve over 1,000 individuals each year. SMWG currently provides mobile crisis response services throughout San Luis Obispo County.
This new unit will reduce the demand placed on the County’s 16-bed Psychiatric Health Facility. The primary goal of crisis stabilization is to prevent the need for individuals to be admitted to an inpatient psychiatric hospital setting. Other potential outcomes include a reduction in depression and other symptoms, reduced risk of self-harm, prevention of criminal justice involvement, improved school and work success, and increased engagement in supportive mental health treatment.
The building of the Unit was made possible through a grant from the California Health Facilities Financing Authority, with funding from statewide Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) dollars. The County’s MHSA Advisory Committee has dedicated funds to support the operation of the facility, along with additional support from the County’s General Fund.
